Canvases splashed with color hang from walls near the bookshelves, filled with literary classics and a volume of encyclopedias.

In the corner are cases stacked with rock and jazz records, right next to racks of jackets, dress shirts, flannels and scarves.

On a recent afternoon, three friends walked in the Charity Shop in Garden Grove and looked over the music equipment – guitar amps, pianos, a cello - and then up at the artwork on the wall.

“It’s different,” said Natalie Christensen, who was visiting from the Bay Area, as she looked at an acrylic painting. “What other thrift store are you going to find real works of art? This has its funky own vibe. You have stuff from the 70s. You have Elvis. You have an old organ. It’s cool.”

The Charity Shop name may sound like it’s a place to raise funds for the needy, but it’s really a central gathering spot for art in downtown Garden Grove.

The Main Street shop is fronted with a second-hand store, selling donated items that help fund free classes and workshops. But local artists say it’s much more: The back room is filled with six art spaces and a music studio for local bands to rehearse in.

With money from sales and donations going to pay for art supplies and lessons, the space has struggled financially. Manager Jordan Avila said the shop is faced with the possibility of shutting down and closing the store’s doors when the lease expires at the end of this month.

Avila and his friends and supporters have started an online campaign to generate funds to keep the shop open. But as of earlier this week, only $15 of the $10,000 goal had been raised for the non-profit.

“If we keep struggling, I don’t know if we can keep doing this,” Avila said. “But we’re still fighting and we hope and hope.”

On an evening earlier this month, Avila gathered with friends and local artists to celebrate the Charity Shop’s five-year anniversary. He sees the space as an entrepreneurial launch pad where people can get ideas for their own businesses through workshops and networking. He’d also like to start a coffee shop in the space one day.

“We’re all about community and having a good place for artists to come to,” said Avila, who studied at the Orange County School of the Arts and Biola University in La Mirada. “I want it to be all about education. My heart is art and music. I’m trying to push that here.”

Avila leases the space that is the former campaign office for his mother, Rosie Avila, when she ran as the Republican candidate for Congress against Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat, in 2008.

On a recent day, Avila, a 25-year-old Santa Ana resident, sat behind the glass display caseHe said the spot helps budding artists and musicians by giving them access to communal space and resources. “There are a lot of things going on,” Avila said.

LPs are sold on consignment from Factory Records in Costa Mesa. Bookcases are heavy with novels and histories, 36 volumes of the Encyclopedia Americana, Les Miserables and a 1949 illustrated hardcover edition of Moby Dick. There are VHS tapes for $1, dozens of music CDs and a vintage arcade shooting game.

Local artists spend a few hours each week in the studios.

“It’s very community based, a lot of positive energy,” said Will Koffman, who makes his own art in the back and went to high school with Avila. “It’s something you don’t see very much of. You’ll either see a store or a commercial art studio. It’s a mixed bag here.”

The Charity Shop hosts everything from performances, open-mike nights and art shows to painting lessons and workforce training, where high school students can craft their resumes. The space also hosts canned food and toy drives for the homeless.

“It’s an eclectic place for art and different kinds of events,” said Laura Breski, who also went to high school with Avila and teaches a Saturday morning yoga class at the Charity Shop. “We try to bring the community and different people together.”

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